Ethics in accounting the consequences of the enron scandal Free Essay Example, 3750 words

Although industry analysts and some of the Enron employees raised some doubts about the suspicious accounting practices of the corporation, Skilling and his colleagues verbally attacked those persons to defend the allegations. The company could continue to attract new investors until its share prices plummeted from $US90 per share in mid-2000 to less than $1 by the end of the 2001. This drastic drop in stock prices caused investors losing an amount worth $11 billion. Although Enron’s competitor Dynegy proposed a deal to take over the organization, it did not succeed, and therefore Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. The United States Federal government passed a number of laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act after the Enron scandal with intent to improve corporate governance policies and to prevent such huge corporate failures in future. Today US companies pay specific attention to corporate governance laws and implement improved internal check system s to detect accounting irregularities and other illegal/unethical business practices. Problem Statement Unscrupulous accounting practices by Enron CEO Jaffrey Skilling and other top managerial person including CFO Andrew Fastow to inflate the profits of the organization resulted in Enron scandal, which was identified as the biggest corporate failures at that time. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics in accounting the consequences of the enron scandal or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Although Enron collapse was the biggest in the history and had far reaching dreadful effects, modern organizations have a range of lessons to learn from this corporate failure. This paper will analyze the history of the Enron scandal and the role unethical accounting practices played in this collapse. The paper will also put forward some valuable recommendations for modern organizations in the light of Enron scandal. History of the Issues The merger between Houston Natural Gas and Omaha-based InterNorth led to the formation Enron in 1985 and it began operations as an interstate pipeline company. Kenneth Lay, the former CEO of the Houston Natural Gas, was appointed as the CEO of Enron and he subsequently won the post of chairman in the next year. Over the next years, the company achieved terrific growth in its sales and spread its business beyond the pipeline sector. Industry analysts praised this unbelievable growth of Enron because many contemporary organizations were struggling to survive during that period and such positive expert reviews greatly assisted the company to attract more potential investments. Jeffrey Skilling, a previous consultant for Enron, impressed the company’s former CEO Lay in his capacity as an industry analyst, and consequently Skilling was hired by Lay as chairman and CEO of Enron Finance Corp.

Todays Social And Economic Inequality Is A Matter People

Todays social and economic inequality is a matter people are faced with in their daily lives. Many Americans are currently unable to reach their full potential due to the lack of financial stability in the work force, and are incapable of providing stable income for their dependents. Krugman, like many Americans, believes that change is the only way to help close the ever-growing gap between upper class Americans and those who are middle class or below poverty level. In Krugman’s essay â€Å"Confronting Inequality† he addresses the need for change, and has several concepts for how to bring about equality. I agree with several of Krugman’s key ideas in his essay such as; higher taxes on the rich, raising the minimum wage, and unions.†¦show more content†¦On the contrary, most now wealthy Americans are living off of money that was given to them from their parents and grandparents. The argument that the upper class citizens are not paying enough in taxes , although a matter of opinion, should be reconsidered when looking at how much the rich avoid paying in taxes when using loopholes. Although it may seem as if they pay a lot in taxes, they are avoiding a large portion of what they would have to pay normally with the use of the loopholes. Another key idea of Krugman’s to solving inequality is to raise the minimum wage. I agree with Krugman that the minimum wage should be increased, but it should not go up to the extent that it would cause extreme job losses. If the minimum wage was raised two or three dollars without the loss of jobs, many middle class Americans could possibly live a more comfortable lifestyle. The minimum wage should be the minimum amount of money needed to live off of. So many middle class Americans, and Americans below poverty level struggle to live off of a minimum wage salary now. Krugman mentions in his essay,† the minimum wage, however, matters mainly to low-paid workers† (575). Raising min imum wage even a little would aid some people in paying for their necessities. Some people are forced to stay in minimum wage jobs for either their entire lives or the majority of their lives because they cannot move up in that field or do not have a degree. A large number of Americans workingShow MoreRelatedPoverty And The American Dream933 Words   |  4 Pageskids born in poverty will not get out. Today, more Americans are falling below the poverty line and are struggling trying to find a way to get out. The Inequality gap in America has increased for the past few decades. Resulting from Economic Inequality in America, 400 Americans share more than 50% of America’s total wealth. These 400 Americans are the Top 1%. While the Top 1% are living luxurious lives, the Bottom 99% is struggling to make ends meet. 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Training and Development Assessment Plan

Question: Discuss about the Training and Development Assessment Plan. Answer: Introduction The present work environment is quickly becoming dynamic and embracing change every time. Therefore, it calls for employees to be skilled and always embrace the latest trends in the market to attain a sustainable business strategy. Training is an important aspect in increasing employees performance and for a business to remain competitive in the market. Resources can be adequate in a business environment but fail to match the required skills of employees in a firm. In this respect, the need for training arises forcing the management to embrace the option for change. The paper examines the need for training and carries out an assessment towards improving work performance. Reason for Training Need Assessment A need assessment helps in aligning and achievement of goals in organizations. In so doing, it reduces the existing gap between the skills required and the competency demonstrated in performance. A training need assessment is essential towards identifying the present level of competence concerning skills and knowledge in one area compared to another in a separate institution (Tracey, Hinkin, Tran, Emigh, Kingra, Taylor Thorek, 2015). In this respect, the concept aims at driving a competitive nature between individuals in the same industry. The difference between the present and the required competency develops the training needs which if addressed lead to business success (Anitha, 2014). Training need assessment is important towards establishing who in the organization needs training and development and for a specified reason towards business performance. Assessment of the needs can be done at any given time either during actual work performance or at the point after selection of employees to drive a particular skill in them. At the same time, training assessment can be done during performance review period where there is an indication for improvement or succession planning in the organization. The performance measurement can be done periodically to promote and monitor the level of business success achieved. Step 1: Identification of the Business Needs Performance Analysis The training need assessment in the organization focuses on the performance analysis which indicates a performance gap between the required stature and the performance presently being demonstrated (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). The organization has sufficient numbers of machines suitable for producing several amounts of goods but fails to perform optimally due to the reduced knowledge among the operators related to technology. The firm upgraded its technology and introduced faster machines supposed to deliver beyond the past technology in the organization. However, there is no significant increase in performance measured by the results displayed in the outputs. In this case, a training and development assessment has to be done to determine and increase the productivity rate of individuals given the new technology. According to Bell, Tannenbaum, Ford, Noe Kraiger, 2017), the present workplace environment requires individuals to become independent thinkers able to make conscious thoughts that steer business growth. In this respect, training is essential to impact the necessary skills to employees displaying inferior skills at their workplace. There are several competencies that shall be assessed and used in the determination of the training needs which range from decision making, communication, technology use, business knowledge, innovation, planning to teamwork in driving change to the organization. Performance Gap Analysis Assessment Techniques Observation The evaluation team used direct observation in examining the pace at which individual worker carries out their tasks. The speed and level of technology use displayed determined the competency level in information technology towards production. At the same time, observation on the coordination and team work spirit ascertained the level at which employees correlated with each other to solve existing issues (Certo, 2015). At the workplace, there are individuals who are conversant with the technology and do their best towards achieving their targets. However, there is another set of employees who were performing optimum in the previous technology who have failed to demonstrate the same in the present one. In this case, observation shall be used to identify such cases for training needs. Interview Inquiry into the knowledge and challenges experienced in the process of business performance is a perfect way of communicating the needs for training towards competency. The assessment carried out a one-on-one session with the employees in the production department to verify their levels of competency and ascertain the extents to which the new technology boosted production (Reason, 2016). Employees were guaranteed the freedom from victimization and made to understand the need for the interview to communicate all the issues affecting their production. In this way, the assessment team was able to understand the competency levels and the challenges faced by the individuals in the processing plant related to the new use of technology. Questionnaires Assessments utilize questionnaires where every aspect of inquiry is offered for the respondents to communicate the different needs of their business. The questionnaires had no names to enable the workers to divulge as much information as possible. At the same time, the questions targeted the specific hindrances to production to understand the reason behind the performance gap experienced in the firm. As a result, the assessment team understood the challenges and developed a training program to enable individuals to achieve expected success. Focused Group Discussion The assessment team used the group discussions where members of the concerned department meet to air out issues dealing with productions. The evaluation team was able to understand the hindrances in place and had the employees in the discussion suggest the best measures that can boost their production (Law, Hills Hau, 2017). The discussion further opened the managements mind to the needs of the employees thereby assisting in the development of training plans and other motivational factors to increased production. Assessment Focus Points The analysis focused on the key performance issues in outlining the training needs of the production department. First, an analysis was done on the tasks performed by each to understand the skills applied and provide knowledge on whether they match with the resources in place. Secondly, the analysis examined the frequency of the work performance to understand the extent to which experience could drive change in the business as employees are expected to change and adapt over time whenever carrying out a similar task (Reason, 2016). Thirdly, the analysis sought to understand the importance of every step in the task performance and relate it to the special attention given to each segment. The fourth assessment focused on the knowledge needed in performing the task as the information was used in comparison to the existing skills demonstrated by the employees. After identifying the necessary skills, the assessment moved to the category of determining the level of difficulty involved in carrying out a certain part of the task assigned. In the end, the study focused on the proposal by the individuals to determine the necessary training available to boost production at workplaces. Evaluation of the Assessment Process The evaluation process was instrumental towards understanding the need for training in the production department after the introduction of technology in the processing unit. The assessment sought to learn on the difficulties to production by airing out the challenges faced leading to the unexpected production rates compared to the previous case where the use of technology was absent (Noe, 2002). All the six steps used produced necessary information essential for arriving at the training solution to the production issue. The assessment of the tasks performed enabled the team in understanding the kind of work done and recommending the type of skills that can be used in completing the said tasks. Reporting on the tasks done indicated the difference in the previous circumstance compared to the present case. As a result, it indicated the shift in work patterns thus allowed understanding on the challenges that might be experienced given the fact that technology was introduced (Reason, 2016). On the other hand, the frequency of the task performance enabled the assessment in understanding the rate at which a given task is repeated. In this case, the difficulty experienced could be understood given the fact that a repeated action on a similar concept leads to experience which culminates to proper performance and mastery (Miller, 2016). The lack of improvement on the task indicated the assumption that some of the processes were being done in the wrong manner repeatedly. As a result, it formed a background to the fact that there was no sufficient training and knowledge on the use of the machines. The importance of each task enabled the assessment to understand how and why some tasks were performed perfectly with others performed dismally. The category allows for the determination of the processes that required deep training to understand the aspects involved in making them match their importance to the finished products. Consequently, the facts were recorded and used for evaluation to determine the training needs that would make all the processes important towards production (Noe, 2002). Every step in processing is important to the overall product formulation and hence has to be done perfectly according to plan. The category of the knowledge needed for certain tasks was essential in understanding the knowledge present and that absent about the results observed in overall production. In this case, the assessment realized the gaps in training which denied the workers the power to deliver at optimum levels. Besides, the difficulty of each task was critical in understanding the challenges experienced and outlining measures to ease the difficulty and lead to prosperity according to business goals (O'Neill, Albin, Horner, Storey Sprague, 2014). Lastly, the types of training available were important in understanding whether the training was effective and implementing more training to curb the underperformance experienced. Therefore, the two aspects were critical in developing a training plan that would yield benefits for the organization. Recommendation on Training The recommendation tends to answer the question to the training needs needed, where it is needed, who needs it, how it will be done, the cost of training, and the impact on the business. The firm has the required number of employees who were previously performing better compared to the records shown after the introduction of the technology. The fact points towards the lack of knowledge on the current technology use and thus points to the need for in-service training and staff development. Since the existing training failed, there is a need for the organization to carry out a fresh plan that is all-inclusive (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart Wright, 2006). First, there is a need for induction to freshly introduce the employees to the technology by briefing them on their importance and basic use. Afterward, there is need to conduct workshops and short-term courses on the theoretical and practical approaches when dealing with the technology (Noe, Wilk, Mullen Wanek, 2014). The training would assist in the first stage of performance which can be done for two weeks. Afterward, maintenance or refresher training becomes essential in updating the assessment team on the mastery and enabling individuals further understanding issues disturbing them at the moment. Consequently, on job training would be essential here where a team of experts would give hands-on practice to the employees to instill mastery in the operations (Phillips Phillips, 2016). Afterward, the firm should give the employees room for career development by allowing them to conduct part-time studies on the technology to improve the task and their experience. Besides, the management can develop simple ways of approaching the technology to ease the burden of work using the technology. The implementation team should carry monitoring and evaluation plans at every stage of training to gauge the extents to which the change impact on production (Seidle, Fernandez Perry, 2016). On the other hand, the firm needs to motivate the employees once the improved performance is registered by increasing their remuneration and appreciations in the process of meeting targets. Besides, in-house recruitment should be done in the department to ensure employees embrace career development thus promoting performance (Serkan Emir, 2014). At this stage, maximum adoption is expected as every employee has been subjected to training and development as well as proper remuneration. At this stage, it is necessary for the management to transfer non-performing workers to lesser need departments and monitor and evaluate their performance (Vickerstaff, Phillipson Loretto, 2015). On the other hand, employees who fail to meet the target of the organization ought to have their services terminated since they become a burden to the production if maintained. The need assessment process is essential towards performance. It identifies the problems existing in a business and addresses the concerns through training and other motivation measures in production. The assessment provides the steps to follow and the considerations to make in the process of driving change. In the end, the recommendations given would result in positive performance given the satisfaction of the needs that employees required for performing at optimum level. Performance in organizations must be monitored and evaluated to maintain the competitive strategies towards change. References Anitha, J. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Bell, B. S., Tannenbaum, S. I., Ford, J. K., Noe, R. A., Kraiger, K. (2017). 100 years of training and development research: What we know and where we should go. Certo, S. (2015).Supervision: Concepts and skill-building. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Law, M. S., Hills, P., Hau, B. H. (2017). Engaging Employees in Sustainable Development - a Case Study of Environmental Education and Awareness Training in Hong Kong.Business Strategy The Environment (John Wiley Sons, Inc),26(1), 84-97. Miller, B. A. (2016).Assessing organizational performance in higher education. John Wiley Sons. Noe, R. A. (2002). Employee training and development. Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., Wright, P. M. (2006). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. Noe, R. A., Wilk, S. L., Mullen, E. J., Wanek, J. E. (2014). Employee Development: Issues in Construct Definition and Investigation ofAntecedents.Improving Training Effectiveness in WorkOrganizations, ed. JK Ford, SWJ Kozlowski, K. Kraiger, E. Salas, and MS Teachout (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997), 153-189. O'Neill, R. E., Albin, R. W., Horner, R. H., Storey, K., Sprague, J. R. (2014).Functional assessment and program development. Nelson Education. Phillips, J. J., Phillips, P. P. (2016).Handbook of training evaluation and measurement methods. Routledge. Reason, J. (2016).Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Routledge. Seidle, B., Fernandez, S., Perry, J. L. (2016). Do leadership training and development make a difference in the public sector? A panel study.Public Administration Review. Serkan, B., Emir, C. (2014). Impact of Training and Development on Employees Performance in Bosnia And Herzegovina.Evropejskij Issledovatel?, Vol 89, Iss 12-2, Pp 2125-2132 (2014), (12-2), 2125. Tracey, J. B., Hinkin, T. R., Tran, T. L. B., Emigh, T., Kingra, M., Taylor, J., Thorek, D. (2015). A Field Study of New Employee Training Programs Industry Practices and Strategic Insights.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,56(4), 345-354. Vickerstaff, S., Phillipson, C., Loretto, W. (2015). Training and development: the missing part of the extending working life agenda?.Public Policy Aging Report,25(4), 139-142.